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“Il faut cultiver notre jardin,” —Voltaire

For those of us who don’t do fancy French, this means:

“We must cultivate our garden,” says Pangloss at the end of Voltaire’s Candide.

No sentiment could be truer for women who write. Stop focusing on the whole wide world. Instead, maintain a space that is your own and encourages the fruits of your labors to blossom.

But the process of growing our garden requires the right tools. Reading this blog and learning how to revise your own stories could help you cultivate your garden, obtain peace of mind, and establish your writing legacy. Happy reading and writing!

Looking for a specific writing topic? Search the entire blog below.

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Why I Quit Social Media—It’s All About Knowing Your Audience

I still have social media icons on my website.

And you can look up my social presence. Weeeeelllll, you can find an older version of me on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but I don’t update my social media much these days. Maybe that will change. But my writing pause during COVID caused me to rethink my social media identity. Not only did I have less time to post with a toddler at home 24/7, but I also needed to clarify my audience.

Sesame Street, Nudists, and Your Unintended Audience

Sesame Street may appeal to children and adults alike, but adults were never Sesame Street’s ideal audience. So how has this long-running show not only captured the interest of children since 1968 but their parents’ interest, too?

The answer is: ignoring them.

Sesame Street never needed us, adults. At least not initially.

Economy of Words: How to Cut the Crap

I see it every week in some Facebook group.

A writer posts that they’ve reached a specific word count. YAY! Shoot the confetti cannon! You made it!

They are so excited for their accomplishment. And they continue to make announcements as their counts climb higher and higher.

“That rising word count is addictive. ”

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but when I see someone broadcasting their word count, I think, “great, now you’ll have even more words to edit out.”